ETAN
at 20

ETAN has done tremendous
work in its 20 years! I have personally learned so much
from being a part of ETAN and am very proud to be a part
of this amazing network.

I was 24 years old when I
joined ETAN. I had just returned to the U.S. from
several years in Yogyakarta, Indonesia where courageous,
radical, young activists taught me about U.S. foreign
policy (my high school and college education taught me
comparatively nothing in that realm), and so much more.
They challenged me to act in solidarity with them and
the poorest people living under the Suharto regime. I
remember watching a clandestine viewing of the Santa
Cruz massacre in a college basement in Yogya together
with a group of Indonesian activists. Together, we cried
and committed ourselves to doing all we could to stop
the brutalities in East Timor.

Solidarity implies friendship and alliance
across difference and a deep commitment to
equality and mutual assistance. It means
working toward greater humanity for all; it
means listening and learning from one
another, and always seeing the tremendous
amount we have to learn from one another.
For any contribution I or we in ETAN gave to
the Timorese struggle for
self-determination, human rights, and
justice, we gained at least as much.

I returned to the U.S.
with a deep commitment to put what I had learned into
action, and within weeks, I was part of ETAN (Thanks,
Dale Lovett). I was repeatedly amazed by the
intelligence, passion, and love that the ETAN activists
I was working alongside possessed. Ben Terrall, John
Chamberlain, Luis Kemnitzer, Joe Nevins, Alan Nairn,
Lynn Fredrickson, John M. Miller, Charlie Scheiner, Amy
Goodman and so many others were my early mentors and I
am so grateful to them. Our actions in front of the
Indonesian Consulate in San Francisco were particularly
memorable and meaningful. There was a symbolism and
spiritual strength to them that was very empowering; it
also empowered us that such a small group could shut the
Consulate down so quickly.

While political actions
inspired me, I know that the speaking tours really
sustained my commitment to East Timor. I met Constancio
Pinto, Agio Pereira, Emilia Pires, Bela Galhos, the
“young diplomats” group, and Fernando de Araujo thanks
to ETAN, and their stories and courage helped keep me
focused and strong in my involvement. It was such a
privilege in 2003 to accompany Ze Luis de Oliveira on
his U.S. speaking tour and see this people-to-people
solidarity building in action.

My first visit to East
Timor in 1997 gave me more personal encounters that
shook and inspired me; I am especially grateful to
Manalu for embracing me and ETAN through me, to Ze Luis
for connecting me with Fokupers, to Pedro and Joanna
Leite for their courage and insights about who to trust
or not trust. I remember Licinio Branco, then English
student at the University in Dili, coming up to me
during a forced integration day “celebration”. He took a
picture of Bela Galhos out of his wallet and asked if I
knew her. I said yes, and he said something to the
effect that he knew it, that I looked like a solidarity
activist; he took us into his home and led us through
the hills of Maubisse, a dangerous activity at that
time. There was an assumption at that time that if you
were a foreigner outside of the official government
circles, you were a journalist or activist. It was an
act of courage to speak to someone like me, and I
listened carefully and learned so much. For me, ETAN
exists because of the immense courage of so many
Timorese.

Independence brought a new
kind of courage, new challenges, and new opportunities
for solidarity. As one of La’o Hamutuk’s first staff
members, I know the critical role played by a few
ETANers, especially Joe, Charlie and one-time ETAN
Executive Committee Member Aderito Soares de Jesus. I
also know that ETAN has worked hard to identify its role
post-occupation, to identify its strengths, to
understand current needs in Timor, West Papua, Aceh, and
throughout Indonesia; and to determine how, with limited
resources, to continue effective solidarity.

The “Network” in ETAN is
key; we need to continue to work across borders and
languages. Through ETAN, I have had the privilege of
working with solidarity activists from many different
countries, especially during IFET and the 10 year
anniversary celebration of the referendum. I know ETAN
is a youngster compared to some of the other Timor
solidarity groups, and because of them, we could start
strong. Specifically, I remember ETAN passing out an
ETISC publication with photos of human rights abuses in
East Timor to each member of the U.S. Congress.

I learned so much through
my work with ETAN, and one of the most important relates
to this massive word “solidarity”. Solidarity implies
friendship and alliance across difference and a deep
commitment to equality and mutual assistance. It means
working toward greater humanity for all; it means
listening and learning from one another, and always
seeing the tremendous amount we have to learn from one
another. For any contribution I or we in ETAN gave to
the Timorese struggle for self-determination, human
rights, and justice, we gained at least as much. For me,
solidarity must continue on because it is not about
short-term goals; it is about working together to make
the world a more just and peaceful place.

With your help, we can put ETAN on a firmer footing for the
future.
Please give generously in this anniversary year. In doing so,
you can help strengthen
ETAN to meet the challenges of the coming years.